The IP PBX Isn’t Dead

Over the last few years there have been a number of obituaries posted for the PBX; specifically the premise based IP PBX.

There is no doubt in my mind (or anyone else) that hosted and cloud based systems have taken a huge huge chunk out of the premise based market. However, in order to truly understand to what levels hosted and cloud telephony have impacted the growth of premise based IP PBX systems, one must consider the customer segments that each serves.

In the SOHO market, characterized as 1 – 10 lines/seats/users, there is no doubt that hosted and cloud telephony solutions have killed the premise based PBX. For customers of this side, almost regardless of vertical, hosted and cloud based communications is the way to go.

Market research firm In-Stat has growth in this space eclipsing 83% from 2010 – 2015.

However when you up above 10 lines/seats/users, the story begins to change. From 11 – 30 seats the IP PBX space is HOTLY contested. There are both pros and cons to going with a hosted/cloud solution or a premise based system depending on your need.

And when you get above 30? Well, let me tell you, the IP PBX certainly isn’t dead.

Here’s why; most small office and home office solutions do not come with the type of SLA or QoS measures, nor the scale, to adequately meet the demands of medium to large companies. They’re also not well equipped for the massive systems integration that most mid-to-large sized businesses undertake when switching to VoIP.

In fact In-Stat has the medium to large business segment (100 – 999 users), growing the fastest of all segments from 2010 to 2015; the vast majority of which will not be buying hosted or cloud solutions.

Like Mark Twain and Steve Jobs’, I guess the for the IP PBX,  “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”